A Full House

The whole gang aboard Green Rosetta for a week.

In Nevada, a full house has a different meaning, but for a week in July, it was a house, well, a boat, full of people. Green Rosetta is set up to easily accommodate two couples, plus one more person on the bench in from of the table in the salon. This particular week we proved that seven people can be reasonably comfortable living aboard.

Usually, Helga and I use the owner's cabin aft and the V berth in the bow is for guests. For the crowd, Helga and I moved out of the owner's cabin with its king size bed, and into the V berth that really is at capacity with two adults.

L-R Anna, Ashley, David, Ian, and Austin

The plan was to have Anna, David, and Ashley share the big bed and Austin and Ian would figure out who would get the salon couch and who would get the salon floor. Then Ian, who might have been destined for the salon floor, discovered the "hobbit hole", a sitting bench in the owner's cabin that is hidden by the cabin door when open. So there were four in the aft cabin, one in the salon, and two in the forward cabin. I figured that the arrangement would last maybe one night, two nights tops. After that, they might retreat to the privacy of a hotel room. I didn't take into account  that, first, the family has done a lot of extended traveling in a motorhome and are used to close quarters and no privacy. Second, these kids aren't borderline ADHD like most kids these days, and are actually happiest when curled up with a book, so they are a lot less "kinetic" than I expected. I think they must take after Anna. Finally, everyone had pretty good humor. So it was seven people on a 46 foot boat for six nights. It was a blast!

We had been discussing sailing down to Monterey and back for the couple months before the visit. There were a few issues, the biggest being that the visit was limited to just seven days, and while, theoretically, the trip to Monterey and back should take only five or six days (including tourist time in Monterey), if the weather or some other factor went against us we might not bake it back in time, and Helga and I might have to take the boat back into San Francisco Bay by ourselves. We also weren't sure how everyone would like living on the boat for a week. Finally, there were the logistics of renting an eight man life raft for the trip. We eventually opted for local sailing for this visit.

Every morning started with cooked to order breakfasts, yours truly on the grill, and it was the most intense period of "togetherness" each day.

The first sailing day started with with David helping me change the propeller zinc, with David handing me tools and parts when I was in the water. Changing the zinc presented me with an issue related to advancing years; the water visibility in the marina is about 12 inches, but I need reading glasses to see clearly that close. Back away to 18 inches where my eyes can focus, and I can't see my hands or the zinc through the murky water, get in at 12 inches and I can't focus on the hole where the hex key needs to go. I got it done by feel, but maybe I need to invest in a dive mask with reading lenses glued in. Eventually we got underway and had a couple days sailing around in the usual neighborhood.

Even on deck, the kids would mostly rather read.

Ian is usually the troublemaker, or at least the one that gets blamed for everything, but there is still a strong bond with dad.

After two days of sailing we decided it was time for a touristy road trip. We all piled into David's Honda Pilot and headed to Monterey. First stop was the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

David was hungry for some fresh fish.

Crazy tourists standing out in the street for a photo op.

After the aquarium, we got some clam chowder in Pacific Grove and then meandered down 17 Mile Drive.

Sea otters are one of the big attractions of this part of the coast.

How do you get your golf cart out to the tee? An no retrieving your ball from this water hazard.

A photo can't convey the noise, and the smell.

Ian can't resist scrambling out on the rocks.... in flip flops?

After a long day we stopped for a pizza/pasta dinner at Gusto's in Seaside. Then David drove us safely back to Richmond.

The next day, David and his clan took a day by themselves to tour UC Berkeley, show the kids the local area, and tour the city a little. Helga and I got some chores done on the boat and had a little down time. David and I also got the generator started. We hardly ever use the generator because we have shore power at the slip, and the house batteries store about 500 amp hours, which is enough for a couple days at anchor if the fridge isn't running too hard, and plenty to run the comm/nav gear for a day sail. Still, having the generator available for AC power and charging the house batteries is nice. A little investigation and a few squirts of ether and she fired right up. Thanks, David!

The next day, with one full day on the boat left, we headed out for the last sail of the visit.

Where did that tanker come from?! Headed under the bridge we were on a long tack headed west northwest, and I thought we might be getting too close to the Marin cliffs and it would affect our wind so we tacked to the southwest. When we tacked I happened to glance aft and there was this big tanker just a few hundred yards behind. He never used his whistle to signal, "get out of my way", so I guess I was OK.

Photos usually don't do a good job capturing the sea state, but here you can see fellow sailor with his hull mostly hidden behind an ocean swell.

Going by a nice gaff rigged ketch on the way back in. Much clearer weather inside the bridge.

Just coming back into the channel inside the breakwater, we had a little excitement. Just before this the winds had gotten very light and variable, and the jib sheets had dropped to the deck and then gotten pulled around by the sail. We didn't know it but one of the sheets had worked its way under the dinghy. When we got a gust of wind, the sail filled, putting tension on the active sheet, and flipping the dinghy off the foredeck and into the water. Only by fast action from Helga were we able to maintain hold of the dinghy bow line and lead the dinghy aft. Otherwise, it would have meant a man overboard drill to go back and collect the stray dinghy.

Bringing the 46 foot boat into the slip in a 50 foot fairway is tricky enough in the best of circumstances, so we didn't want to tow the dinghy with us back into the slip. Hoisting it back aboard while underway also didn't seem like a good solution if we could avoid it. We decided the boys hadn't experienced nautical activity sufficiently up close and personal during the visit and this would be a great opportunity. Once we got into the yacht harbor, we lowered the swim platform and the boys climbed into the dinghy to row back.

Pumping out at the end of the visit. A good photo opportunity.

A big thank you to our visitors and the wish that they will all come back soon. Plan a little more time in your schedule and we WILL sail down to Monterey.

Thanks again!

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